The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of global supply chains causing firms to re-evaluate their end-to-end operations. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions, trade wars, post-pandemic recovery initiatives and many other macroeconomic conditions have made supply chain resilience a much higher consideration for both domestic companies trying to expand and international firms exploring Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). At the same time, industry shifts towards sustainably, rapid technological development (including electrification) and a higher prioritization around more innovative solutions are causing supply chains around the globe to shift from lowest production cost to a more risk-averse and environmentally friendly value chain. This is a complex problem that crosses many municipal borders in Southern Ontario requiring collaboration between the largest Economic Development Offices (EDOs) to better align their interests around shared challenges to address gaps through a coordinated joint effort.
The “Supply Chain Onshoring, Resilience, and Expansion (SCORE)” program was conceptualized by Toronto Global in 2020 to address this challenge and was eventually funded by FedDev Ontario. The core goal of this initiative is to identify critical supply chain gaps within Ontario’s key sectors that are hindering both expansion and investment mandates (herein referred to as the “Project”) which launch around regional supply chain gaps in the GTA before scaling to gain more of a Provincial lens. Therefore, the focus of the Provincial Track (and the basis of this RFP) is to develop a toolkit that Participants can deploy as needed to advance SCORE’s shared goal of using economic development activities to build resilience in our deeply connected supply chains.
To align stakeholder needs while ensuring all Participants have an equal voice in the Project, this phase must be executed through a qualified external consultant (herein called the “Proponent”) secured via a competitive selection process. Since global supply chain disruption is directly linked to local economic prosperity, it is increasingly important to arm EDOs with tools and intelligence that can assist them in addressing challenges by showing them how to apply shared resources and assets to help protect the most vulnerable areas of their regional supply chains. This will require a firm with a proven track-record of success and can demonstrate a deep understanding of our Project needs. Previous work in economic development and an authentic understanding of Ontario's deeply connected supply chains (especially within each Participant's local jurisdiction) is essential to the success of the Project due to its accelerated timeline and increasing relevance in today's current economic landscape.
